Left 4 Dead 3 is but a dream for many gamers at the moment, but we don’t think it’ll stay that way for too long. Read the latest rumours on the Left 4 Dead 3 gameplay and UK launch date.

It has been 8 years since Left 4 Dead 2, so Left 4 Dead 3 must be released soon, right? It seems so, according to recent leaks.

Left 4 Dead 3 is but a dream for many gamers at the moment, but we don’t think it’ll stay that way for too long. The post-apocalyptic zombie shooter is insanely popular and has been since its initial release, with the second in the series achieving a perfect 10/10 score on Steam. So, what are the Left 4 Dead 3 rumours that suggest it’s in the works? Read on to find out the latest on the Left 4 Dead 3 release date and gameplay rumours. Read next: Best upcoming games of 2017

When is the Left 4 Dead 3 release date?

So, when should we expect Left 4 Dead 3? Now, call us a bit premature here, but the game is yet to be announced at all, so a release is still some way away. However, while there has been no official word from Valve, developer of the series of games, there have been a few subtle hints over the past few months that suggest Left 4 Dead 3 is in the works, and that we should expect some kind of announcement at some point in the near future.

What is this evidence? ValveTime, a valve fansite, spotted something within a screenshot used in a tutorial for Destination Workshop Tools by a Valve employee. The screenshot, which can be seen below, has a folder in the top-left hand corner named “left4dead3”.

While this could be a cruel tease from Valve itself – after all, how long does it take to rename a folder – we’d like to think that it’s a subtle way for the company to build hype without announcing anything too early on.

The company also recently announced that it had not one, not two but three full virtual reality titles in development and, of course, the internet now suggests that L4D3 could be one of those titles (along with Half Life 3, obviously).

In terms of platforms, we can only speculate based on prior releases. Left 4 Dead 2, which was released back in 2009, was initially only made available for Xbox 360 and PC, but was later made available for Mac OS X and Linux. We imagine that it’ll be a similar situation with Left 4 Dead 3, with support for the PS4 and Xbox One, along with PC. We’re not so sure the new game will be ported to macOS due to the low-end gaming performance of most Macs.

What should we expect from Left 4 Dead 3?

When looking at other games that Valve has developed – Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 – it’s clear to see that it doesn’t stray too far from what it knows. Instead, the company likes to take what was on offer in the first game, and improve the mechanics, graphics and storytelling with each iteration.

Take Portal for example; the improvement from Portal to Portal 2 was noticeable, in terms of both gameplay and mechanics – it’s not to say that the first Portal game was bad, but Valve perfected it with the second game. We’re hoping it’ll be the same story with Left 4 Dead 3, with Valve improving upon the already perfect (according to the 10/10 Steam rating) Left 4 Dead 2.

So, what can we expect? The biggest hint so far is that it’ll have some kind of VR tie-in, due to both the recent Valve VR announcement and the fact that Valve developed the tracking system, hardware and software for the HTC Vive. The Oculus Rift boasts a number of platform exclusives, so it only makes sense for the Valve to make it exclusive to its own platform in return. It might not be a VR-only game, but to have a VR mode like Elite: Dangerous or Project Cars would be a great addition to the HTC Vive’s game library.

Beyond that, we’re not sure what Valve is up to, but what we can say is that we assume Left 4 Dead 3 should feature improved mechanics that’ll make gameplay feel not only smoother and more fluid, but bloodier and more satisfying too. What else would you want from a game about the zombie apocalypse?